[music]

Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Let's end today's show with some live music. Armenian-born and New York-based pianist, composer, and vocalist Astghik Martirosyan combines her jazz training with elements of traditional Armenian folk music to create a style that is all her own. She's premiering that music and her debut album Distance at National Sawdust this Sunday. The compositions on the album were created during a time of turmoil for Astghik.

The COVID pandemic left her isolated in Boston, while family and friends back home in Armenia were suffering through an armed conflict with forces in Azerbaijan, a conflict that has recently escalated. Military forces in Azerbaijan launched an offensive against the territory occupied mainly by ethnic Armenians leading thousands to leave their homes behind and flee the country.

Astghik turns that pain and her hope for future peace into beautiful music on Distance. She'll be performing at National Sawdust on Sunday at 7:30, but first, she's performing live with us here in studio. Astghik, so nice to meet you. Thank you for coming in.

Astghik Martirosyan: Thank You so much for having us, Alison. Thank you.

Alison: The first piece you're going to play for us is the first song on the album titled Silence. Why did you want to begin the album with this song?

Astghik: I wrote Silence inspired by this opening line of a poem by Emily Dickinson. The poem starts with this phrase. It says, "I many times thought peace had come when peace was far away." I remember really not even reading the rest of the poem. This was during the fall of 2020 where the war was happening, and I was in Boston and I was finding ways to really express myself and express all of these emotions. That was the moment that I really felt like I'm ready to write music and put this into music. I guess Silence is where it all started, and that's why I felt that it should be reflected in the album as well, starting with that song.

Alison: We're going to hear it now. Would you introduce us to your colleagues?

Astghik: Absolutely. At this moment, we have Joe Martin on Bass and Karl Ousbäck on drums. Right now, I'm on piano, but Moshe Elmakias is going to join us later.

Alison: Okay, let's hear Silence.

[MUSIC - Astghik Martirosyan: Silence]

Alison: That was Astghik Martirosyan. The new album Distance Is out now. The name of that song was Silence. That was beautiful. Thank you so much for that.

Astghik: Thank you. Thank you.

Alison: When did you know that you wanted to pursue music professionally?

Astghik: I was raised in a musician's family. My mom is an opera singer. I grew up in the theater. I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, where my mom was performing in Mariinsky Theater for 10 years. Music was always in my life. I studied piano since I was five, just because it was not even a question.

[laughter]

Astghik: I had to, but then it just became part of me really.

Alison: How did you first discover jazz music?

Astghik: I remember I was 13. I would sing songs at home and play, but they were different types of songs. Artistic Director of Armenian State Jazz Orchestra, Armen Hyusnunts, was one of my mom's friends. I remember the day when she called him and she said, "Armen, I don't know what she's doing. She's singing a bunch of songs and playing, but let's--"

Anyway, we went to him and I heard the orchestra for the first time, and jazz orchestra live, and I was so inspired.

Armen started giving me songs to listen to and just learn and learn more about jazz music. I did my debut performance as a singer when I was 14 with the Armenian State Jazz Orchestra. Since then, I performed with them for around five years.

Alison: If someone Googles you after this interview, and I suggest you do, there's a really terrific video of you explaining a bit of the history and the specifics around Armenian musical notation. It's so interesting. Tell us a little bit about the Armenian musical notation system and what does it tell us about the foundations of Armenian music.

Astghik: Because of Armenian notation system, first of all, there's the first version of Armenian notation system, which is khazes. This comes back from 8th century, 7th century. Unfortunately, there aren't almost-- I am not quite sure, but I know that probably if there is someone who can read it, it's probably one or two people.

[laughter]

Astghik: Then, in the 14th Century, there was Hampartsoum Limondjian came up with the more modernized version of it, which is one that we use today. Not everyone can read it, obviously, and it's not that we use it all the time, but that's something that I learned at the conservatory, and that's how we read religious music. Armenian folk music was notated also with that because it has a specific--

It's tempered in a way that it's four-note links to each other. Every last note of each four-note is the first note of the following one. The third note of each one of those groups is slightly flat, so then because of this, we have variety of intervals that is almost impossible, not almost, it's impossible to notate with Western notation system.

Alison: Are there certain sounds or rhythms that are specifically when you hear them, you know, oh, that's an ode or that nods to Armenian folk music, or is Armenian folk music?

Astghik: Yes, yes, definitely. Absolutely. A lot of it comes from the language. It's so much reflected in the rhythm. Even in certain embellishments that are very common to a region overall, but we define them. We understand that those are Armenian because of the specific nuances of the language, and the way certain dialects dictate rhythmic structure or a way of saying things. Most of it comes, let's say, the way you ask a question and in a different dialect of Armenian, that question sounds different, and that's so much reflected in the music.

Oftentimes, we might not know the lyrics, but based on a melody, we might understand from what region that song is coming from.

Alison: Interesting. Is there a way you could show me a small example on the piano?

Astghik: Oh my God. On the piano? I don't know.

Alison: If you can't, it's okay. I didn't mean to put you on the spot.

Astghik: I can sing. For example, the song that I'm going to perform next--

Alison: Okay. Let's go right to the [unintelligible 00:13:04]

[laughter]

Astghik: We can talk about it a little bit. This is from a region of Vaughan. Today it's in Turkey. The way the rhythmic structure is when we look at that rhythmic structure, we can tell that this is from that region, but also not only that, there are different versions of that song of different dialects, and the melody reflects that as well.

Alison: Interesting.

Astghik: Oftentimes we would see a song that would travel with different regions, but that song really shifted. Even the context of it changes as well because for example, if Vaughan was more, it was a city they were in, the lifestyle was different, but then you see more songs will come from more mountain regions where everyday life is completely different.

Alison: Sure.

Astghik: They think about their own story, which is completely different, let's say, than what the story would be in Vaughan.

Alison: That makes sense. My guest is Astghik Martirosyan. The new album is called Distance. You're going to perform Summer Night. Would you tell us a little bit about this before we hear it?

Astghik: Yes. It's funny. Before moving to the US, I rarely would sing folk songs. It was not something that I really felt like, "Oh, this is something that I want to do." Of course, it was strongly in my life. I had mentors, my dear Alina Pahlevanyan, who till today is such a huge mentor to me. I learned folk music through her but it was not something that I would perform. I guess 2020, and especially the war, I was trying to find ways to reconnect, to heal, to express so many emotions, to feel more connected to Armenia, and folk songs were an amazing outlet for that.

My father's side is actually from Vaughan. My grandparents and their parents, they escaped genocide, and they were coming from that region. This song, it shows this picture of a beautiful summer night in the village. After a long working day, the people are gathered, they're singing songs, women are working with the wool, and men sing about these women, how beautiful they are. It's a beautiful summer night. I think during the war, I was dreaming about that view.

Alison: The name of the album is Distance. Astghik Martirosyan will be performing at National Sawdust on Sunday at 7:30 PM. To play us out, here she is with Summer Night.

[MUSIC - Astghik Martirosyan: Summer Night]

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